Space, Time, a CIA Agents, and Don't Forget the Pineapple
by girlinpink44
Summary: When a case leaves Sydney and Shawn stumped, they will have to turn to some unusual help that will turn their world upside down. A fun little side story in the Sydney Series. Not sure if this is going to be in the actual series or not.
1. Of Lights And Home

** Long time no see!**

**I know, I know, I really dropped the ball on Sydney's Guide to Hostage Situations. But I'm working on it (see author's note attached there).**

**This one, was in response to the challenge I posted on Psychfic where I wanted a Doctor Who/Psych crossover. The Doctor and Donna are in-between The Wasp and the Unicorn and Silence in the Library. The Psych gang is about 2 years after Sydney first came to Santa Barbara. **

**BBC owns Doctor Who and USA Network owns Psych. **

**Enough from me! **

**Alons-y!**

* * *

"Oi! Spaceman!"

The Doctor hit his head on the TARDIS console, letting out a couple words that he felt the TARDIS wouldn't translate for the waiting Donna Noble. "What is it, Donna?"

"You said come find you in an hour."

Rubbing the back of his head, he untangled himself from the wires he'd been working on before coming out into the control room. "Has it really been an hour?"

"Where are we going?

The Doctor couldn't help but smile that the expectant look on his companions face. Granted, when he'd first started with Donna, he wasn't sure how this could go. But now, a few months into their time together, he couldn't imagine not having her here.

She wasn't Rose…

He shook his head, shoving all thoughts of his pink and yellow human out. She was gone, and tried as he might, she was never coming back.

"Doctor?"

He looked up to see Donna looking at him, the expectant look having been replaced with one of concern. "You okay?"

He felt a smile grow on his face as he darted to the far side of the console. "I'm always okay! Now, where shall we go today? There's this planet, two solar systems away from Earth called Lumiere."

"I've heard that word before."

"French for light on Earth" The Doctor adjusted the coordinates. "Well anyways, there are two species on Lumiere, the Glimmers and the Shimmers."

"You're kidding."

"I have better things to do then make up this stuff." The Doctor rolled his eyes at the look of shock on his companions face. You'd think she wouldn't be surprised anymore. "Anyways, the two races spent a thousand years at war over each other over a patch of land the size of Buckingham Palace."

"That small?"

He shrugged. "Something to do with a sacred temple that once stood there. But the war ended."

"You didn't have anything to do with that."

"Well, maybe, not really, there was that… but that's not the point!" He flipped a switch. "To celebrate the end of the war, a fantastic light display was put on. They were known for it back before the war. The sun they orbit around can be manipulated so they can have 24 hour days, eternal nights, and take parts of it for a light display that makes the Northern lights look like a candle. The display to end the war was a collection of both civilizations' achievements in the filed. Each year they duplicate it."

"We're going to see the display." Donna held on to one of the coral struts as the TARDIS began to shake.

"Yup!" The Doctor pulled a lever. "Alons-y!"

* * *

The lights were on in the Psych office as Sydney pulled her car into her spot. No doubt, her Dad and Gus were either in a movie marathon or playing some video game that was usually reserved for kids that were at least 20 years younger.

Not that she complained. As long as they didn't beat her high score.

That caused her to laugh. Oh, her dad's face when she'd beaten his high score. She wasn't sure whose was more priceless, his or Gus'.

Taking the clip out of her hair, she let it fall down onto her shoulders out of the tight bun it seemed to stay in for the last few days. Semi-satisfied that she looked a little less like a CIA agent, she got out of the car, leaving her luggage in the back seat.

Quick hello and then home for a long, hot bath.

Peeking in the window, she saw that it was a movie night, and that Jules had joined them. Letting herself in, she stood in the doorway until Gus looked up. "Sydney! When did you get back?"

"About ten minutes ago."

She didn't get much else out before her dad was over wrapping her in a hug. "Everything go okay?"

His question was so quiet, she knew she was the only one who heard it. "Yeah, nothing I can't handle."

He held her close for another minute and she let him. She was finally almost used to actually having a dad in her life and she had to admit it wasn't half bad.

"So what cases did you solve without me?"

Her dad settled back onto the couch next to Jules as Sydney perched onto his desk. "The usual, a robbery, a cheating case."

"That I told you not to take." Gus didn't look away from the screen.

"You now we needed the money."

"Dad, you know I can help with that, right?"

He gave her a look. "It wasn't a big deal, just involved me on a six hour stake out."

"Anything current?"

All three looked at each other before shaking their heads. "It's been a quiet week."

"That won't last long." Sydney stood up as she let out a yawn. "Y'all enjoy your movie. I'm headed to Gramps for a long hot bath and my own bed."

"So the chances of seeing you before noon tomorrow are…"

"Slim to none. Night guys."

Sydney headed out the door as a chorus of "goodnights" followed her out. You know, there really was something in the statement, "there's no place like home."

She stopped cold just outside the Psych office, and for a minute just watched the waves as they crashed on the beach.

Was this really home?

For a long time, even after she moved her, she couldn't quite think of this as home.

A smile spread on her face as she made her way to her car, putting the top down as she started it up, backed it out of the space, and headed for the road.

* * *

**Not too long, you know how it is with me, I like to write longer chapters as I go. Not sure how long its going to be before these teams run into each other (I'm almost feeling a Partners in Crime situation coming). **

**We'll see!**

**Til next time! **


	2. Writing On The Arm

**What? A chapter 2 days in a row? What can I say, I had a productive day. Don't expect it too often, but I have some of the next one written too and the opening scene of chapter four in my head (which promises to be epic if I can capture it right). **

**But you don't want to here me chatter on! Go on, read! Oh, and thanks, phnxgrl, for the review! I'm glad to see her back too :) **

* * *

It was almost three the next afternoon before Sydney finally stopped by the SBPD. Enjoying the feeling of jeans and a t-shirt, she slipped inside, nodding to the Officer Jessie Miller who was behind the front desk.

"When did you get back?"

"Late last night." Sydney stopped at the window. "How are the kids?"

Jessie's face lit up in a far away smile. "They're great. All over the place."

Sydney let out a laugh. "I bet."

Eyeing the line of people who needed Jessie's attention. She stepped to the side. "Talk to you later."

"Later, Sydney."

Sydney made her way into the station, stopping to talk to officers along the way. Finally, she made her way to the desk of her favorite head detective only to find he wasn't at his desk.

Not that that had ever stopped her.

Sitting in his chair, she propped her feet on his desk, pulling her phone out of her pocket and opening the iBooks app. Something about a Vince Flynn novel settled her. He wasn't that far off from how it really was and she appreciated that in his writing.

Shame he'd passed away.

The clearing of a throat brought her away from the case Mitch Rapp was working on and back to the present day. Looking up, she saw Lassie standing there, two cups of coffee in his hands, eyebrows raised at her. "Last I checked, that was my desk."

"That's a real technicality." Sydney pulled her chair out of the corner and took the cup of coffee. "But I guess I'll let you have it."

She sat down the coffee cup and pulled him into a hug. "I see you kept the station from imploding while I was gone."

"You were only gone a month."

"Felt like longer." She plopped down in the chair, feet back up on the desk.

"Hard case?"

She shrugged. "Not too hard, just not used to it anymore. I've learned I'm happier here. Well, didn't learn that, just realized it more."

"Going to take any more." Lassie sat down at his desk and started checking his emails.

"Probably. It's hard to give it up completely. But I told them I'm not going back full time."

"Ever?"

"Probably not. After all, someone has to keep my father in line."

She picked the moment where Lassie was taking a sip of his coffee and then enjoyed a laugh as he almost snorted it right back out. Taking a minute to compose himself, he turned to her. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"Me?" She felt a smile grow on her face.

With a sigh, he started typing a response, Sydney took a second to look around. People were at work, but it almost looked like they had been right the night before.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

The door to the chief's office slammed open. "Detective Lassiter."

His head snapped up. "Yes, Chief?"

"Get, Ohara, I mean Spencer and head down to Willow Park. There's been a murder and this one looks like it's going to be a doozy. Miss Collins, when did you get back?"

"Late last night."

"Are you okay with being back on duty this quick?" The concern in her eyes was genuine and Sydney couldn't help at smile at the woman who couldn't help but mother her now and then.

"I'm fine, Chief." Sydney jumped up, sliding her chair back into it's corner. "Jules!"

The woman in question came up the stairs. "Sydney! When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago. But we've got a case." Grabbing Lassie's car keys, she tossed them to him when he came after them. "So, are we carpooling?"

* * *

If Sydney had known what was waiting for her, she would have taken her time getting to the crime scene. When the chief had said it was a doozy, she wasn't kidding.

In front of her, lay the body of what had been a sixteen year old girl with her whole future ahead of her. Her head was split open, revealing an empty brain cavity, and there was a gaping wound in the chest where the heart had been.

"What kind of sicko takes the heart and brain?" Sydney slid on her gloves and began examining the body, ignoring the smell that was already coming off the body. It was a warm day and that wasn't helping matters.

"A special kind of sicko." Lassie was looking through the wallet of the victim. "We've got an Olivia Carden, 16, lives about a mile from here."

"She was only 16?" Sydney felt a feeling in her gut at the idea of only being a few years older than the girl.

Lassie grunted confirmation. "Are you getting anything?"

"Well, she was running. Listening to music. She's been dead for at least 16 hours." Looking around the little used section of the park, she knew why it had taken someone so long to find her. "It could be as simple as wrong place wrong time. Something tells me not to make a profile out of this."

"Will the killer strike again?" Jules sounded worthy.

Sydney looked around the scene. "Honestly? I don't know."

The examination continued, and Sydney decided she could have gone the rest of her life without knowing what the inside of a human head looks like when it's missing its brain — or with it's brain for that matter. Sadly, both ships had officially sailed.

"What's this?" A small mark was on the neck, just behind the right ear. "It looks like the victim was injected with something."

"Something tells me the heart and brain were removed post-mortem." With a sigh, she continued the psychic act. "I'm sensing that the cause of death will be due to something that was injected into the bloodstream."

Moving down to the arms, Sydney noticed a tattoo. At first, she thought it was a poem or something, it was four lines of what looked like writing. But, she realized she didn't recognize it.

Granted, that didn't say much, she didn't know all the languages of the world. But she had thought she knew enough to at least recognize most of them. But this one looked like something she'd never seen before.

Waving over the photographer, she nodded to the writing. "I want this photographed and the image analyzed. I want to know what it says and what language it is in ASAP."

"Yes, ma'am."

"What have I said about calling me ma'am. I'm at least ten years too young for that."

The man laughed as Sydney positioned the arm so he could get a good photo. "Sorry, Sydney."

"It's okay."

Photos taken, Sydney continued her examination but found nothing else that was over suspicious. "I'm sensing that writing holds the key."

Stepping away from the body, Sydney finally allowed it to be loaded into a bag before it was placed on a gurney. "Tell Woody I want a text as soon as he's done with the autopsy."

"Sure thing, Sydney."

Looking over her shoulder, she saw Lassie and Jules waiting for her. "If you guys are ready, I say we head back to the station. I want a background check on the girl."

* * *

The TARDIS was quiet, minus the constant warm hum of her presence as the Doctor roamed the halls. After the light show, which had been better than the original in his book, Donna had retired to her room and according to his guess, which was really never wrong, she wouldn't be up for at least another four hours.

He walked down the hall, past the familiar door with a rose on it, pausing to lay his hand on it. "I'm sorry."

With a sigh, he walked down the hall, past the pool, past the garden, and into the library where there was already a fire burning, a cup of tea waiting, and his book sitting in a chair not too far from the fire.

"Thanks, old girl."

A hum was his answer and he felt a smile fill his face. Sitting down, he opened his book and continued to read through the 51st century sci-fi story. Something about making fun of everything they got wrong relaxed him. Granted it was fiction and they were allowed to think what they wanted but seriously?

Lost in the world of the story, he didn't hear the beeping that came from down the hall right away.

"Doctor?"

Looking up, he saw Donna in the doorway, her eyes still full of sleep.

"Everything okay?"

"Where is that beeping coming from?"

The beeping registered then and he sat his book down and followed the sound. Behind him, he could hear Donna following.

"Sounds like the TARDIS picked up one something." He reached the console room and the beeping grew louder. "What did you find?"

The screen lit up with what looked to be a news story. "Body of Teenaged Girl Found in Park."

"The TARDIS is going nuts over a murder? Those happen all the time?"

"Nice way to put it." The Doctor tilted the screen. "You sound like you've been around me too long."

He felt Donna next to him and saw her reading the screen. "Doctor, what's that on her arm?"

"Her arm?"

A picture of the body lay at the park and one of the pictures was of an arm.

Then he noticed who else was in the shot. "Sydney! Oh, oh!"

"What? Who's Sydney?"

"We met, once. Well, I met her. She hasn't met me."

"What?"

The Doctor turned away from the console. "I'm a time traveler."

"Duh."

The Doctor let out a sigh. "I travel through time, sometimes crossing the same spot within a couple years of a visit."

"Yeah, like we go to visit Gramps."

"Right."

"So, a few years ago, Rose…" He let out a sigh. "Rose and I followed a signal to Santa Barbara, California. There, we met a group of people who work for the police department there. Though how that arrangement works, I'll never know."

"You know, you have this habit of rambling."

"Well, they knew me, but I didn't know them. Plus, I should have realized that something was up when they didn't recognize Rose…"

"It wasn't your fault." Donna put a hand on his shoulder.

He let out a sigh. "Anyways, I knew I'd have to go back someday."

"What does this have to do with the writing?"

"That writing. That's not possible." He turned a couple knobs and had the shoot zoom in. Unfortunately, the picture blurred as he got closer to the writing.

"What's not possible?"

"That's Trojan."

"Like Troy? Like the Iliad and the Odessy?"

"No, like the planet. It's a couple galaxies away from Earth. But you were close. Rumor has it a Trojan crash landed on Earth when Homer was just a little boy. Stayed with his family for a few months and told him stories of his homeland. Must have stuck and he wrote two of the most famous works that Earth will ever produce. When word got back, well Homer is a saint back on Troy."

"So what? Another one crash landed on Earth and murdered the girl?"

"I don't know Donna. But how do you feel about a trip to California?"

"California? As in the United States? Sunny beaches, superstars, did I mention the beach?"

"Beach yes. Stars, not so much. We're headed for two hours north of Los Angeles."

"Where?"

"Santa Barbara." The Doctor started setting the coordinates. "And I'd suggest you hold on."

* * *

**That's it for now. Might wait a couple days to upload the next chapter so that you won't have but so long wait in between because I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write during the week. **

**Til next time...**


	3. Language Unknown

**Here's the next chapter! Btw, something changed in chapter 2 (I decided to change my approach just a bit) so you might want to go and take a look. **

* * *

Early the next morning, Sydney's phone rang waking her out of her dream. With a groan, she turned over and answered it. "Collins."

"Are you still in bed?" Her dad's voice rang out.

"Are you up?"

A laugh answered her. "Yeah, Gus and I went to breakfast."

Sydney pulled her covers up. "Good for you."

"Did you just pull your cover up?"

"Did you just attempt to pull a 'I'm a psychic' on me?"

"Fair enough."

Sydney shut her eyes, allowing herself to drift.

"Hey, kid?"

Her eyes snapped open. "Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just catching up on sleep."

"Well, Woody finished his autopsy and the Chief wants us all there."

"Did they finish analyzing the writing?" Sydney pulled the covers back and finally sat up.

"What writing?"

"Oh, what did the great head psychic not know about the writing?"

There was rustling on the other side. "Actually, all of Santa Barbara knows about it."

"What?"

"There's a pic of the arm on the front page."

"Who took that?" Sydney stood up, stretching.

"The usual guy."

"Peachy." Sydney headed downstairs, following the smell of coffee. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Hanging up, she walked into the kitchen and made her way to the coffeepot.

"Morning, kid."

"Morning, Gramps." She poured herself a cup of coffee before opening up the door to the back gate. "Hey there, Chipper."

She knelt down beside the hutch as the rabbit hopped out. "I missed you too little buddy."

Rubbing his favorite spot under his chin, she checked his food and water before headed back inside. "Thanks for keeping an eye on him."

"He's grown on me." Gramps took a sip of his coffee as he went back to reading the paper. "Who was on the phone."

"Dad." Sydney took a sip of her coffee, inhaling the rich aroma.

"What did he want?"

"The murder from yesterday. Woody finished his autopsy."

"Anything on the writing?"

"Not that he knew." Sydney took her cup and headed back to her room. Throwing on the first outfit she could find, she eyed the full hamper in the corner. "Note to self, do laundry soon."

Running a brush through her hair, she pulled it into a ponytail before grabbing her keys, phone, and sunglasses. "I'm heading to the station."

"Are you coming home for dinner?"

"I'll call you if I'm not." She headed out the door, saying goodbye to Chipper as she headed to her car. Getting in, she turned on the radio and headed to the station.

It only took her about ten minutes to pull in and grabbed her usual spot. "You know you've been here for awhile when they give you a spot."

Putting her top up, she got out of the car and headed into the station, passing officers on their way out. Finally, she made it to Lassie's desk and found her dad, Gus, and Jules all waiting. "I didn't think I took that long!"

The group laughed before her dad spoke up. "So Sleeping Beauty got out of bed."

"Hush." She gave him a shove.

"Miss Collins, you're here."

"Just got here, did they get anything on that writing?"

The only answer she got was a file being handed to her. Opening the file, she saw a bunch of data that she skimmed until she came to the results.

Language unknown.

"Unknown?"

Chief Vick nodded. "Our specialist ran it against samples of every known language and couldn't find a match."

"Well, that's never happened before. Do you mind if I send this to a friend?"

"Go ahead."

Sydney sat down at Lassie's desk. "I'm using your computer."

Grabbing her phone, Sydney logged into the CIA data base on the computer as she dialed a number. "Kari, its Sydney."

"Sydney! Are you still here?"

"No, I'm back in Santa Barbara."

"Home sweet home?"

"Yeah. Hey listen. I'm sending you a sample."

"Okay.

She clicked the send button. "Check for it."

"Is that a human arm?" She could hear the disgust in Kari's voice.

"Yes, that is a human arm."

"That's disgusting and wrong."

"You think I don't know that?" Sydney checked her messages real quick. "Send me a text when you're done with it."

"Will do."

Hanging up, she logged out and got up. "Time to see what Woody has for us?"

Leading the way, she headed down to the examination room and found Woody waiting beside a sheet covered table. "Sydney, any idea what that writing is?"

"The guy here couldn't figure it out so I've got an old friend looking in on it."

"Well, this was an interesting autopsy."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that."

"Can we get on with this?" Lassie let out an impatient sigh.

"Sure thing, Detective." Woody put his hands on the table. "You've all seen the body, so I'll leave it covered for now. "We have Olivia Carden, 16, blood type A positive."

"Time of Death?"

"About midnight yesterday."

Sydney felt a smile grow on her face. "I've still got it."

"Got what?" Her dad looked confused.

"Sydney called the time of death yesterday at the crime scene."

"Though that might have been not so much psychic and a little more I've been around a few too many dead bodies." Sydney shrugged. "We've got a time, what about the cause?"

"Well, surprisingly. The brain and the heart were removed post-mortem."

"Once again, called it." Sydney let that side comment out under her breath.

"So, if that didn't kill her, what did?" Jules had a small smile on her face. Apparently someone had heard that.

"She was… poisoned?"

"Why don't you sound sure, Woody?" Gus finally seemed to get over his initial wave of nausea.

"Because, there was a substance in her bloodstream. But I've never seen it before."

"Let me see." Sydney took the file Woody handed her and looked at the chemical breakdown. "Okay, granted I took an expedited course courtesy of the CIA. But what are these?"

"That's just it." Woody nodded to the file. "There are six different chemicals in here and three of them don't actually exist."

"But they do. They're in her bloodstream." Lassie held his hand out and Sydney handed him the file.

"Don't worry, I made you a copy." Woody handed her a second file.

"You're the best, Woodman."

"Thanks, kid."

Sydney headed for the door. "I'll be in my office. Might see if I can dig something up on this."

"So, where are we again?"

The Doctor let out a sigh as they stepped out of the TARDIS and into what looked like a hallway. "Santa Barbara, California, United States, North America, Earth, in the year." He licked a finger and put it in the air like he was testing the wind. "2015, July, I think it's a Tuesday."

"You just like to show off." Donna shut the door, hiding the TARDIS away.

The Doctor looked at the door. "Hmm, that's convenient."

"Wait, 2015, that's not even ten years into the future. I wonder if I'm still traveling with you. I wonder…"

"Stop right there, Donna. It's a bad bad bad bad bad idea for you to see your own future."

"That's a lot of bads."

"That doesn't begin to cover it." The Doctor started off down the hallway. "I guess the first step is to figure out where we are."

Looking around, he realized why that door looked familiar. "Oh, of course."

"What?"

"I just parked in Sydney's office. We'll find her in a bit."

He headed down the hallway catching a glimpse of Sydney hanging up from her phone call. "Donna, come on. Things to do. Beach to visit and a case to solve.

Behind him, he heard the sound of rushing feet and knew Donna was catching up. "Wait, wasn't that?"

"Shhh, she can't know yet." The Doctor held a finger in front of Donna's mouth.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! More soon!**

**Til next time...**


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